Carrie's Wedding

The weekend before Memorial Day one of my closest friends Carrie got married. She was our neighbor when we lived in Alexandria VA as newlyweds and even after Ryan and I moved to North Carolina we all managed to stay in touch. I was extremely touched when she asked me to be her bridesmaid... and then momentarily panicked a week after I accepted when I realized I was pregnant! I called her up immediately and she laughed saying I would be one of two! Another bridesmaid was also pregnant and two weeks ahead of me and she was glad to have both of us if we were up for it. It was a little disconcerting trying to pick out the right size for a bridesmaid dress from afar and guessing on sizes and not wanting to alter until the last minute, but my dress fit and all was well!

Even though Carrie and her now husband Pete still live in Alexandria, Pete's family is actually from my home state of New Jersey, and that was where the wedding was to take place! Double score! Ryan and I drove up a day early (and had our engine overheat on 95 in Virginia causing a 9.5 hour drive to take 11 hours thanks to full on DC rush hour after we fixed the car) to try and spend some time with Babci and Poppy. Friday we drove "down the shore" as we NJ-ians say for the rehearsal and dinner in Pete's hometown. It was great getting to know the other bridesmaids better and of course the families of the bride and groom. The bride and groom gifted all the bridal party a hotel for the night, which was lovely, and we had a small, impromptu bachelorette party at the wine bar across the street  after the dinner. It was a quiet night though as we all had to be up early the next morning.

The top picture is the bay down the street from our hotel the night of the rehearsal, and those smudges on the horizon are actually of the New York City skyline. It was much more visible with the naked eye! In the morning the bridesmaids and bride all got up early and drove over to a nearby salon to do our hair and make up. The husbands all slept in knowing they didn't have to be at the venue (an hour and a half away) until the afternoon. We assembly lined through the salon getting our hair set, make up done, then hair pinned up... I thought it was great and felt extremely pampered. Especially when the matron of honor ran to the bagel shop for us! I got a sandwich called "the bomber" that the groom, Pete, told us about the night before; pork roll, egg and cheese with hashbrowns mixed in with the egg on a hard roll. Heaven! Pete's family also treated the bride and her bridesmaids to a limo ride to get us to the venue. Party animals we were everyone had maybe one mimosa (made with seltzer for us pregnant ladies) and then slept most of the way! At one point Carrie and I were the only ones awake in the limo! But we made it to the venue with plenty of time to spare and got checked in to our rooms. She got married at the Inn at Millrace Pond, a gorgeous venue with lots of historical buildings and it was so lovely!

We had some time for lunch and to relax before we went to the bridal cottage to all get ready. By that point all the men arrived and photographs started and we just all prayed the predicted rain would continue to hold out! It was cool but not cold and the sky was gray, but we were super hopeful the outdoor ceremony could go on! Carrie looked stunning in her dress and made us all cry as we helped her get ready. She had more gifts for us, touching letters and Alex and Ani bracelets with our initials, that seriously almost made me ruin my mascara. The groom, getting ready in another building, got a pretty great gift too... a motorcycle Carrie had picked out with the help of his brothers! I think I got Ryan a Taylor Swift CD (as a joke) and a binder of the emails we sent back and forth while he was deployed!

Unfortunately during the set up the catering truck delivering the tables and chairs backed in to our car and put a hole in our bumper! It was minor and mostly cosmetic, but the guy drove off without leaving a note or anything! Luckily there were witnesses so we filed a report and plan on getting it fixed since they were so dishonest about it. We tried to keep it from the bride, but she did find out, and considering there were one or two more issues with them we know she was not a happy camper! I felt bad adding to that stress for sure!

But luckily for us the rain held out and we had the ceremony outside. Ryan shocked me by taking a lot of pictures which he usually never does. I was the second reader during the ceremony (and I will not share those pictures as my mouth is open horribly in nearly every one!) and I was very honored she even asked. The ceremony was beautiful and it quickly rolled into the cocktail hour with pictures. The large meeting house in the background served as the cocktail hour headquarters but it was inside and outside. There was a massive tent set up for the reception and the rain held out until we all got inside! It was perfect.

I actually forgot to take pictures during the dinner and reception, we just had a fantastic time and I didn't bother. I danced and ate delicious food and Ryan and I literally stood guard in front of the sweetheart table so the bride and groom could eat! I don't know why people think the instant the bride and groom sit down it is time to go shanghai them, but don't! Most people at weddings are either already married or have been to at least one wedding, you should know how this works! It should not take a Marine and a pregnant lady threatening to belly bump you out of the way so the poor couple can eat! I was also on bustle duty as those darn things never want to hold up. Luckily the matron of honor was prepared with tape, pins and a sewing kit. Why make gorgeous gowns with big trains that are literally held up by a piece of thread?! My gown did it at my wedding too, as have most of the brides I encountered!

After the reception died down we went back to our rooms in the converted mill (over 200 years old!) with intent of going to the after party, but Ryan got horribly sick from something so we just called it a night. I was swollen and exhausted to boot so I spent the night in sweats trying to make Ryan keep something down. Poor guy. Been there! He was perfectly fine in the morning thankfully. We had a big wedding breakfast and then wandered the trails on the property for awhile.

We met my aunt and her boyfriend for lunch later that afternoon and it was so good to catch up with them! She is my biological father's sister and I honestly haven't seen her since my own wedding but we talk often. She and my other aunt and cousins chipped in and got a lot of things off our registry (our entire bedding set and bumpers) and she had lots of baby things from work (a diaper bag, outfits, bibs, blankets, stuffed animals and ultrasound frames) that she also surprised us with. We were so touched!

After we went back to my Babci and Poppy's house and spent the rest of Sunday and the morning Monday with them before we had to drive back. Ryan set up cable in the back room and helped shift furniture and do things that a big, strapping Marine in his 20s can handle with ease that made me so thankful for him. Anything he was asked he jumped to it instantly. We also went and visited my brother and niece that evening and she is getting so big!

Poppy seemed to be getting around a bit better since Christmas but is still more frail than I like seeing him. We got out his piano and harmonica though and he lit up! He said he hadn't played in ages and he did really well with them both. Ryan even learned a bit while we were there. Poppy learned and played both completely by ear so it is impressive to see at 93 for sure. Babci doesn't look anywhere near 90 and she was going up and down the stairs and cooking dinner (chicken popperkosh!) and refusing help left right and center. I did pick out a beautiful knit blanket for our Bean that Babci made that I cannot wait to wrap the little guy in.

Once again, these trips are entirely too short and Ryan and I had to drive back Monday to get to work Tuesday. It was a shorter drive back, only about the expected 9.5/10 hours, but it still was not fun to do seven months pregnant! I hope once the baby is born we can do another quick trip so Bean can meet his great grandparents! 

Weekend in DC

Last weekend Ryan and I drove up to DC for a small get away and to celebrate my friend Carrie's bridal shower. I am a bridesmaid in her wedding next month and I really wanted to be able to come and celebrate with her before the big day. Considering a six hour drive alone and pregnant would not be that fun I convinced my husband we could do a weekend together in our old stomping ground and he could go to the gym in the hotel while I was girly at the shower. He agreed! We left on Friday afternoon, hit some typical Northern VA traffic we did NOT miss living away, and rolled in to Old Town Alexandria around 9pm. It was a gorgeous night, in the high 70s/low 80s and we knew the weather was going to drop with the next day, so we went out and walked down King Street as soon as we arrived.

Our hotel was at the top of King Street right near the metro, so we just walked around the corner and down the street where we spent so much time as newlyweds. As soon as I saw the lights in the trees I had tears in my eyes (yes, pregnancy hormones do that). I sincerely loved living in Alexandria and I really do miss it. Ryan indulged me for some pictures and we walked the entire length of the street, all the way to the waterfront and back.

Being pregnant meant no bar hopping for us, like we used to do back in the day, but it was still neat to see which of our favorite places were still there and some new ones too. There was one bar that was completely Medieval themed that looked pretty awesome! Ryan also indulged my pregnancy craving of going to BGR and getting some delicious garlic fries. And we split a burger too... because, why not? At the waterfront we were happy to see the old man who plays the water glasses was still there and there was also a lady singing opera. Definitely a great evening.

The next morning we helped ourselves to the all you can eat breakfast before I gathered my things to metro into DC and go to the shower. It was cold and rainy but it was supposed to clear up. Ryan nearly had a heart attack when he saw the gym was closed due to a leak, but when I made him ask at the front desk for other options they got him to the gym at their sister hotel across the street. See, I can be right too :P In the above picture is our hotel and old metro stop, and the building there on the left with the green awning on top is where I worked when we first got married.

It was so wonderful seeing Carrie again and finally getting to meet the other bridesmaids. We had a room at a Mexican restaurant called Oyamel and did a really delicious tasting of all sorts of tapas. They even made special pregnancy cocktails for me and the other pregnant bridesmaid that were so delicious!

Carrie was such a gracious bride and host and it was an honor to "shower" her! We were neighbors when Ryan and I lived in Alexandria and got very close when Ryan moved to 29 Palms for nine months and her boyfriend, now fiancé, moved to Boston for grad school. We bonded over the far away boys, America's Next Top Model, our dogs, and many other things and I am so glad our friendship has endured in the four years (has it been that long!?) since I moved to North Carolina.

After the shower I met my friend from college, Cat, who was one of my own bridesmaids when I got married! We walked down to the National Mall since the monuments and memorials are always one of my favorite places. The weather cleared up even though it was still windy and a little cool, but the sun was warm. Luckily for me it didn't rain as my rain jacket doesn't button anymore! It was extremely crowded because of the kite festival so we did have to fight our way through tourists a bit.

Ryan came and met up with us and we walked around for a bit while it was sunny. Sadly we just missed the peak of the Cherry Blossoms but there were still a few on the trees for Bean to get for his first visit!

Cat has always been a great friend and I love that we can go months without talking and then pick right up where we left off every time. She is super intelligent and hearing Ryan and her debate and go back and forth is supremely entertaining for me as they both hold their own really well and don't get offended by different opinions.

Cat went with us back to Brookland, the area of DC where we went to college at Catholic University. When I first started there ten years ago (oh my...) you couldn't walk up certain streets even in broad daylight. In the four years I spent there they really cleaned up the area and made it safer, but that was nothing compared to now! My "unsafe" freshman dorm was knocked down and they built up the entire area with artist shops and studios, cafes, town homes, bars, and all sorts of other artsy things. Our tiny bookstore we used to have to go in to the bottom of the cafeteria for is now a CUA Barnes and Nobel where I did buy Bean a small Catholic University onesie! We had dinner together at a really good restaurant and then walked around campus a bit. I haven't been there in years so it was nice to see some of the changes there too. Our theatre we spent so much time in got renovated and spruced up a bit and we also ran in to a good friend of mine who was on his way to watch students in a showcase rehearsal... strange that he was a grad student when I was there and now is a professor with the music school! Ah, adulthood. After having some coffee at Busboys and Poets we all went our separate ways and Ryan and I took the metro back to Alexandria.  

Above is the Masonic Temple as viewed from our hotel room... we definitely had a great view! I took this Sunday morning before we left so it looks like a gorgeous day... but it was FREEZING. It was in the low 40s and the wind chill was awful! I was all bundled up in my CUA hoodie (as I don't fit in to any of my winter coats at present!) and the wind was brutal. We decided to go see our old apartment and walk around a little more but those plans didn't work too well...

Our first home :( Carrie warned me they were knocking them down to make way for, surprise, more luxury town homes and condos. The beautiful apartment that was our first home after we were married is gone. That building had so many memories. We made great friends with our neighbors, we used to sit outside on the stoop and smoke and drink together and have our own little parties in the parking lot. It is the apartment we bought Rylie girl home to for the first time. It had two years of memories and firsts, from our first anniversary to my first surgery to our first almost everything as a family. Now a newlywed couple would never be able to afford it unless they make double or triple what we made starting out. And it made me a little sad. We decided to just drive up to the park and walk along the river and nature trails for a bit before getting back in the car and heading back to North Carolina. It was the first time leaving DC I did not cry. It was nice to return to weather that was 20 degrees warmer and our house and our Dup Dup... but Alexandria will still always hold a special place in my heart.

Christmas in NJ

Yes, I am behind, what else is new? :P

For Christmas this year we got to drive up to New Jersey to see my extended family for the first time since my best friend's wedding back in May of 2014. I was super excited to say the least! I hate going so long without seeing my family, and even though I didn't get to see everyone this time around, I did get most people, which is a plus. 

The Tuesday before Christmas we drove 2 and a half hours to my parents' house and spent the night before leaving early Wednesday to continue the drive to New Jersey. I got kicked out of my car and Stefan and Ryan drove together where I rode in the van with my parents. I see how it is boys! It took us about 8 hours with a long stop for lunch but we finally got to New Jersey! 

My uncle Dave was visiting from Florida and he had some home made chili and sourdough bread bowls waiting for us and many of my aunts and uncles and cousins came over, so we got family right away. It was so wonderful to see everyone it just made my heart happy. One of the big things about going to New Jersey for me is the food!

I have to get a taylor ham egg and cheese sandwich on a roll, it is a breakfast must that my mom went out and got for everyone the first morning. We also have to order pizza at least once, because lets face it, Jersey pizza is the absolute best! We had that as our last meal when we left. Then the bottom two above are our Christmas Eve and Day meals, which are always fantastic. Since we are Western European (Polish) we tend to do a meat free Christmas Eve with pierogies, fried fish and mushroom soup. Christmas Day we go crazy with ham, smoked turkey, lasagna, beef wellington, more pierogies and tons and tons of cookies. So many cookies! Ah the food. So thankful for such deliciousness!

Another big highlight for us was finally being able to meet our niece Adrianna. She was born on the 4th of July to my oldest half brother Sean and we finally got to visit and spend some time with her. She is definitely a little firecracker, like her fitting nickname suggests! I loved being able to snuggle her and spend time with her and my brothers and their family.

My heart was also happy to spend Christmas Eve mass at my home church that I grew up in. This is the church I attended from the time I was in about second grade on. It is the church I was a lector (reader) in, received my first communion, confirmation, and got married in. I have lived many places over the past ten years since I left home and none have had a church that compares to this one. I hope someday I find one that will, but until then when I return it is like coming home. Everyone still knows us and treats us like family and it is just a tremendous blessing. It felt like a second reunion being there. 

My best friend Sam met us at Mass and then all of us went to our good friend of the family's house afterwards to catch up. We were there until almost 3am on Christmas Eve! My parents ducked out around 2:30am and us "kids" followed not too far behind afterwards. We still had a long drive back to my grandparents' house after that. Needless to say Christmas Day we slept in a bit before the rest of our family descended on us for dinner.

When my extended family gets together every room looks like this. People are setting up and stealing food in the kitchen, talking in the dining room, and watching TV in the living room. Everywhere you turn someone is there and you bump in to a lot of people and it becomes a hundred degrees in the house but it is wonderful. It was a very balmy Christmas in New Jersey, in the 70s most of our visit and the 50s maybe when we left, so the windows were wide open the entire time! All the people tend to drive my husband nuts but he loves everyone so he tolerates being crowded for me!

I was flipping through some old albums and I found this picture of my Poppy (second from the right) from 1928, when we was about six years old. My Poppy was one of thirteen children, but only Ethel, Emil, and Grace are in this picture with hum. For some reason I just loved this picture and had to take a snapshot of it to have. 

I was a little concerned on how the Dup would do with so many people, but she was utterly fabulous. She only almost jumped on Poppy's visiting nurse once and my cousin's aunt another time. Oops. But everyone basically loves dogs in my family so she got a ton of snuggles and treats and food sneaked her way. She was very unhappy with us when we returned home. One, she hates the car and sticking her in there for ten hours made her miserable, and two she missed all the attention she got for three days straight! Rylie literally spent all day Sunday hiding from us and refusing any treats we offered her. 

As always, the trip was entirely too short. Ryan and I had to leave Saturday to get back to North Carolina. We both had work Monday and knew we'd need Sunday to get stuff done. I hate saying goodbye to my grandparents, it always breaks my heart, and I sobbed as Ryan and I got into the car. And continued to sob most of the way down the New Jersey turnpike. It was a rough, long drive back. We left around 3pm and drove through rain on and off and didn't get home until 1:30 in the morning. We stopped briefly for food and gas but had to take a lot of smaller highways as the 95 area and cities were just a mess.

So it was a really terrific trip and I am so happy we were able to go and spend time with my family. It truly was a wonderful Christmas because of that. Hopefully not so much time will pass before we can get up there again.

I hope you and your families had a great holiday season.

Spontaneity

Sometimes your husband gets home from work unexpectedly early on a Saturday when he is in cycle and you decide to be spontaneous. You hop in the car and drive two hours or so while he snores softly in the passenger seat and head to Myrtle Beach, SC for a small change of scenery. Sometimes a random Saturday becomes a fun day full of firsts that you never expect!

We made our way south and got to Broadway at the Beach in the early afternoon. We were starving so after walking around for a minute we decided to go to Joe's Crab Shack, a place we'd seen in commercials for years but never actually went. I got a steam pot of deliciousness that came with a bib declaring I was the Queen Crab and Ryan was totally jealous of my bib.

One thing on my bucket list (and yes I do have a physical printed out list) is to ride in a helicopter. Ryan rode on one before when he was deployed, and he will quickly say that one was not really an enjoyable experience, but I have never been on one. Myrtle Beach has this company that advertises $20 quick rides and we decided to give it a go. We walked there from Broadway at the Beach (all Ryan's idea, I totally wanted to drive the mile or so since it was pretty hot) and eventually made it to the site. Helicopters were taking off and landing right over the fence from us and I got pretty excited. Once inside we decided to spend a little more to do the next price up tour so we could fly over the beach and have a slightly longer ride. Totally worth it!

First we took a golf cart over to the area where we would board the helicopter. We received instructions on who would board when, where to sit, and or brief list of what not to do (stay away from the back of the helicopter basically and do not take pictures until you are inside). It finally started to hit me that we were going to be flying in this tiny thing and I started to get a little nervous... but not nervous enough to back out!

Once we boarded and got strapped in we slipped on our headsets and met our pilot Scott. Before I knew it, we were off!! And it was amazing. I hardly believed we were really flying! We soared over Broadway at the beach and across the the beach. I could see the Sky Wheel, the wooden roller coaster, all the schools in Myrtle Beach, the Walmart, and the baseball stadium. Scott pointed out all the landmarks and kept the conversation flowing and we had a blast. I was so excited the entire time I probably looked a little manic!

The ride was definitely quick, but worth it in my book. Ryan keeps saying he is going to buy a helicopter and learn to fly it so he never has to sit in traffic again. I laughed it off a bit until I saw him googling helicopter prices later on that evening!

We walked around the shops a bit more before finding a dueling pianos bar. Since we are big fans of the dueling pianos we have seen in Jacksonville we decided to go in while there was still no cover and enjoy the air conditioning! The setup at our local dueling pianos is small but we always have fun.... this was huge! They had two teams that tagged in and out plus at one point they had a drummer and three piano players. The drinks were good, the music was excellent and the guys were really funny.

All too soon we realized it was getting late and we probably should go since we had a two hour drive home. The drive back ended up being a little much since we were both tired, but we made it home safe and sound and crashed into bed. Sunday we were pretty lazy as a result but for a spontaneous Saturday adventure it was totally worth it. 

OBX 2015

Sometimes your husband has to work and you have to go do things without him. Over the years that has ranged from birthdays to graduations to funerals to trips. My parents' rented a house in the Outer Banks for a week and my Aunt, Uncle and three of my cousins joined all of us for a week of sun-filled relaxation. 

I wish Ryan could have joined The Dup and I, but sometimes some family time is just extremely needed. I had almost forgotten how awesome my cousins can be and what its like to pal around in a motley group and get into all sorts of shenanigans. And get made fun of for being "old" and talking like that!

My Aunt brought NJ Bagels (everything ones too!) just for me! I have some more in my freezer. Bliss.

The view from the top deck of our house showed just the slightest glimpse of ocean over the dunes. And it also showed some beautiful sunsets behind us.  We spent some hot mornings sitting on the faded wooden chairs as well as some cooler balmy nights.

The Dup was in heaven. Her Uncle Stefan is one of her most favorite people and she loves people. My Aunt Paulette quickly got in her good graces with some puppy cuddles, bum scratches, and long walks on the beach. Rylie girl is a true lab and loves the water and she went swimming a few times and chased the ghost crabs in the evening.

My cousins and brother built us fires on the beach most evenings and we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. The boys even caught a crab or two and roasted them... and surprisingly they didn't taste too badly!

On one day we decided to take the ferry to Ocracoke Island. We didn't realize there would be a long wait, like almost two hours, but we stuck it out. I also was sitting in the trunk as my aunt, uncle, and one cousin bailed at the last minute taking the second vehicle with them. I wanted to go so my parents had me sit in the trunk. Luckily it is an open one to the rest of the vehicle! Normally the ferry ride is about 20 minutes but bad storms made the channel change and now going out and around takes about an hour. At least on the ferry we were allowed out of the car so I got some sea breeze to keep me cool!

View on the ferry

Once we made it to the island my brother, two cousins and I were excited to see the pony pens... thinking wild horses running on the beach. Nope. Wild horses in fenced in areas looking a lot like captive horses. We were a tad disappointed but we still hung out there for awhile. We then had a delicious lunch (crab cake sandwich for me!) before getting back on the ferry to go home.

The Dup got super spoiled. My Aunt had this blanket one night and Dup commandeered it!

We also took a trip to Kill Devil Hills one night to play some mini golf and eat at an Italian Restaurant. More so for the mini golf!! My cousins, uncle, brother and I had a blast. One cousin missed out since he had to go draft his fantasy football league. Sigh. Boys...

I may not have won but I did get the most holes in one (hole in ones?)! Three! Best I've ever done.

So my four days went by way too quickly and I had to return to work and the real world. I was definitely not looking forward to leaving, family time is too rare and precious, but I did miss Ryan! It was good to see him when I came home, slightly sunburned and a little weary from too much fun :P

Hopefully it won't be as long between my visits with extended family.